The feminist icon

Today I am going to write about Elizabeth I, this big English woman who became a Queen after  the dead of her half-sister, Mary I.

Queen Elizabeth I is considered an icon among feminists: not only did she reign in times when women were considered inferior, but also she reigned greatly – according to many experts on the matter- during 50 years. But that is not everything, she won all her power, all her respect, all her authority without a man by her side. Even, she was called "The Virgin Queen". How could she be one of the most loved Queens in English history?

Elizabeth became then a feminist symbol by conducting England to the Golden Age all by herself, in an autonomous way, even though she had the help of the court, which consisted in male figures only, if not entirely. Contrary to what people by the time might have thought, Elizabeth managed to rule England successfully: she is mostly remembered by her achievements. This gives people the reason to believe in her as an icon, someone who endured criticism and used his gender to her advantage, not letting any obstacle to come in her way. Although many opinions about her see her reign as genocidal, which is likely to be truth, they set this aside arguing that by the time she was in power there were other countries conducting the same strategy. Moreover, Queen Elizabeth I is known by her love for England and the sacrifices she was willing to make in order to keep protected his empire and keep in peace his people.

Nowadays, since women are able to make their own decisions, emerging from a society that is leaving behind times of chauvinism, they should remember icons like Queen Elizabeth I for finding the courage to fight for their rights after centuries of oppression.  

the woman who knew how to conquer

One day in class we watched a movie about Elizabeth I “The Virgin Queen", and our teacher spoke us about her life, caused me interest. So I search more information about her because a movie never shows all about something. 

She was born on September 7, 1533. She was the second daughter of King Henry VIII and her mother was Queen Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was named after Henry's mother, the consort to King Henry VII.

The birth of Elizabeth was a disappointment to Henry because she was not a male heir to the throne. However, Henry loved her dearly and kept her close to him until he remarried after the execution of her mother. During these early years of her life, she was his favorite child. She bore a close resemblance to her father in appearance and in her mannerisms. She was one of the first monarchs to be born of pure English descent. This was one of the reasons that the citizens of England fanatically followed her throughout her reign.

  

The people remember her because she was an intelligent and brave woman, she expanded the maritime limits and she change and broke with the classical role of women .For centuries, the Greeks spoke mainly of seas, lakes and rivers, but some only theorized about the oceans. It is during the Renaissance, the concept of ocean becomes a problem for experts in the field and Renaissance elite.

Elizabeth leaves aside the fear and not knowing what might lie beyond Europe dared to allow explorers leaves aside the fear and not knowing what might lie beyond Europe, dared to allow explorers would travel on behalf of the Queen by the ocean feared. This and added a win over the Spanish colony, made ​​it crowned undisputed monarch for all English.

All this rests on the utility of manipulating the ocean, since at that time there were a lot of data on it. But even if it is with the black market sought information either way, because he wanted his country had international location. 

She would do anything for his country, for it to be on top. She knew what she needed and because of this it is known for its strong character who helped his country prosperous maintainer.

Elizabeth I of England.

                                                                Henry´s daughter.

                                            

    Nowadays, the society reckons that is completely usual seeing women related to power and having a voice in political and economical topics, even though, more than 400 years ago, it was completely different the scenery for they. In this contradictory rebellion growth a well-prepared lady called Elizabeth.  

    Elizabeth I of England was the daughter of Henry VIII of England.  She was an independent and strong woman, who was prepared to be a Queen or a politician. At that age, it was a huge impact Elizabeth´s accession at the age of 25. Additionally, Elizabeth established as many trading with many nations as possible, leading the trading market with Asian countries, allowing to England increase their profits.

    As a comparison, the whole movie create a sense of glorification in Elizabeth´s figure, which is bear resemble to the one created by England in the 16^th Century. It was her conception to create the idea of a Virgin Queen, who becomes the mother of England. It was crucial that she be acting in that way as a seal of approval from the citizens. On the contrary, during the whole movie, the plot was trying to create an unreal relationship between the Queen Elizabeth and a English corsair. That part of the movie wasn´t completely true due to the fact that no one could prove the existence of a relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and one of her suitors.

Wrapping up, the movie gives you a base for real history. It show you how a woman was one the biggest politician figure in the 16^th century and her ability and skills to command million of people fighting against other countries. As far I am concerned, societies are not trying to eliminate the chauvinism barrier, even though we are getting used to the idea of having women controlling countries. 

The Virgin Queen

            On the day that we spoke of Queen Elizabeth we were taught some of her iconic nicknames and one of them sounded familiar to me, but I just couldn't remember where I had heard it. Later that day it hit me, it was from an underground song by Regina Spektor called "The Virgin Queen".

            I must have heard this song when I was about fifteen years old, and back then I had no idea what it was about, besides, I wasn't able to understand the lyrics because it was an old live version.

            Now, seven years later, I'm glad that at least the title and part of the melody stuck around long enough for me to look the song up and finally understand it.

            Regina has a passion for literature and history, so she sometimes alludes to famous writers and historical facts in her music.

            I've decided to broadly write about different aspects of Elizabeth's life with the help of some lyrics from "The Virgin Queen". Since there isn't a clear studio version of this song, I will treat it as a poem.

Headless mother, heartless father...

            This line refers to how her cold-blooded father Henry VIII accused her mother Anne Boleyn of adultery and high treason so she was sentenced to death by decapitation just because he wanted to marry another woman and try to conceive a male heir.

In the bedroom

You must suture up that hole

Where the babies come from

England, oh, England

Never forsake me

Won't you take me to have and to hold?

            Elizabeth was portrayed as the Virgin Queen, so she must have hidden any romantic relationship. It was said that she was married to England, in order to keep her power.

I may be a cruel, crude woman

But in the distance I hear Shakespeare mumbling

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of

Troubled, troubled, troubles

            Queen Elizabeth was very well-educated. She was passionate about dancing, writing and theater. In these lines, Regina emphasizes on her being seen as a cruel woman in contrast to the tenderness implied in a person who enjoys and values art. Also, she quotes lines from Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, in which it is said he is contemplating suicide.

            At the end of the song, Regina makes noises which apparently mean nothing, but there is a backwards version where you can distinguish that she says "family come home". I believe that this is hidden in the song because Elizabeth had to show herself as a hardhearted woman, and if she ever cared about how disperse her family was, she couldn't have let people know since they would perceive her as a weak person.

           

            In conclusion, I would say this song is about the loneliness in Queen Elizabeth's life. Having such power and responsibility definitely takes her to not being able to lead a "normal" life.

            Finally, even though I considered the lyrics as a poem, I will post the live version if anyone would like to listen to it.

Call Them Brothers

"That's it, it's split, it won't recover. Just frame the halves and call them brothers" From the first line this song tells us that no matter how broken our society is, we are all brothers.

It was written by Regina Spektor and her husband Jack Dishel. The song is featured on his album "Searchlight" and an acoustic version is on her latest album "What We Saw From The Cheap Seats".

Regina was born in the Soviet Union and emigrated to the U.S. as a refugee with her family during the Perestroika, when she was only nine years old.

She has a need to tell stories, most of them are just fantasies or about strange things that inspire her, but I think that this one comes from a very special place in her heart, and she felt that she must put it into a song.

Her background is often evident in her songs and videos. Even though there are many interpretations to this one, I like to think that it's about war and the damage it causes, and that we're all still brothers. Another slightly different view is the one that says it's about the fall of Communism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, something very present in Regina's life. There are many references to that, however, the beauty of her songs (and songs in general) is that we can make them our own.

In the video, we see clips of her and Jack in Russian hats, fooling around among images of Russia and soldiers in line. I believe this represents who they are now, with their baggage showing in their clothing versus how things used to be. How even though the past seemed broken and split, something good still persists and they can be happy anyway.

They don´t care about us - Michael Jackson

I chose this video because i think it is closely related to cultural diversity, in this video we can see one of the most popular areas of Brazil, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful parts of the world, clearly show us the cultural diversity in Brazil, because while in some areas there are very rich people, we can see in this video the Favelas are a very poor area of this country.

This video was created and produced by Michael Jackson and is the fourth single on the History album, in which we can see different parts of the world and also shows many realities in the lyrics. The main things that attract my attention is how this video shows the people of the Favelas and police in the same place, as one part art and dance from brazil and in the other part are police watching everything that happens. Another thing is very attractive is the colors and symbols that are presented here, we can clearly see the presence of the colors green, yellow and red and different symbols of peace. But the most important thing that attract my attention it’s the dance because I think the dance can join the world, if we have dance, we have culture.

This video can be understand in different ways from the point of view you look at it because it shows the happiness reality of Brazil from the artistical vision with music and colors, and also shows the precarious lifestyles and the most ugly part of the country, where is drugs and crime.

I think when Michael Jackson says “they don´t REALLY care about us” shows the poor of importance given to this area of the country and as they are totally separated from society and from the world.

O'Children

The first time I heard this song was on one of my favorite movie. I find it so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time, is very strange, but you can feel the fear, the pain and the impotence when you are hearing it.

The lyrics talk about the desolation in past times but even with that you can still see a light in the future. They can be interpret in so many ways, but what I deduce is the time when the childrens was taken away in the wars. It talks about living in a place with no exit for the older generations that committed so several errors. The time has passed and there is no way back, The despair for taking time back an get a opportunity again of making things right, but that is not posible so there is only space to ask forgiveness

In the otherside, the lyric talks about the new generation, and how they can now be free and happy, how we should be grateful for what we got, the privilege of freedom that others in the past did not have.

While in the last part sings about a train on the route of freedom you can interpret it in two ways. One of them is when the Nazis do people get on a train to take them to the Holocaust, and the other way is the railroad of freedom for the acceptation and forgiveness. Actually it don't really care to much, both talks about the pathway leading to the release of the soul.

But judge by yourself. What the song sings for you?

Hey little train! Wait for me!
I was held in chains but now I'm free
I'm hanging in there, don't you see
In this process of elimination

Hey little train! Wait for me!
I was held in chains but now I'm free
I'm hanging in there, don't you see
In this process of elimination - See more at: http://www.theundergroundrailroad.ca/oneabolitionist/2012/05/nick-caves-o-children-hey-little-train-wait-for-me.html#sthash.F5hHLNOY.dpuf

Hey little train! Wait for me!
I was held in chains but now I'm free
I'm hanging in there, don't you see
In this process of elimination - See more at: http://www.theundergroundrailroad.ca/oneabolitionist/2012/05/nick-caves-o-children-hey-little-train-wait-for-me.html#sthash.F5hHLNOY.dpuf

Hey little train! We are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
And the train ain't even left the station

what the song sings to you.

what the song sings to you.